Speculaas Dutch Spiced Biscuit Recipes

DUTCH SPECULAAS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, molasses and orange zest. Combine the flour, ground almonds, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, ginger and cardamom. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until easy to handle. , Preheat oven to 350°. On a parchment-lined surface, roll a small amount of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Use a floured cookie stamp to press design into dough, then cut with floured 3-in. cookie cutters, leaving 1 in. between cookies. Remove excess dough and reroll scraps, if desired., Transfer parchment with dough to cookie sheet. If dough has warmed, place baking sheet in refrigerator until it firms up, about 10-15 minutes. Bake at 350° until edges are lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

SPECULAAS (DUTCH SPICED BISCUIT)

Steps:

• Combine the cake flour, brown sugar, all spice and salt.
• Cut butter into pieces and mix into the flour in a food processor.
• Add milk and you should now have a firm dough ball.
• Wrap the dough in clingfilm and allow to rest in a cool place for atleast 2 hours, but preferably for a day to draw out the spice flavour.
• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celcius, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1cm thick.
• Place this onto a lined baking tray and bake the spiced biscuit in the oven for about 30 minutes until done.
• Cool the biscuit on a wire rack.
• To serve: Break the biscuit into pieces and serve with warm chocolate milk.

SPECULAAS (DUTCH STYLE GINGERBREAD BISCUITS)

Steps:

• 1. Combine flour, sugar, spice and salt
• 2. Dice the butter and mix into the flour using a pastry cutter or two knives then add milk and with your hands quickly knead all into a firm dough (do this quickly so the heat from your hands does not warm the dough too much)
• 3. wrap the dough in saran wrap and let rest at least 2 hours but overnight is preferable to develope the spice flavor
• 4. Pre heat oven to 375
• 5. Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes
• 6. Cool on a wire rack, break into pieces to serve.
• 7. * Speculaas spice: 1/2 Cup Cinnamon 1/4 Cup Cloves 1/4 Cup Nutmeg 1/2 Cup Ground Ginger 1/4 Cup Cardamom 1/8 Cup White Pepper (You can use a pre-made gingerbread spice but it will not be the same, the gingerbread spices have allspice and no cardamom or white pepper, but use what ever suits your tastes)

SPECULAAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, mace, white pepper, and cloves in a large bowl.
• Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in half the flour mixture. Beat in water, then remaining flour mixture. Shape into 3 disks. Pat each to a 1-inch thickness, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Dust surface and springerle mold lightly with confectioners' sugar. Roll out dough to a 1/4- to 3/8-inch thickness (deeper molds will need thicker dough). Cut a piece of dough about the size of the mold. Press mold firmly into dough, flip over, and gently roll over dough with a rolling pin. Flip over, and press onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a knife, trim excess dough. Gently coax dough out of mold with fingertips and onto a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing cookies 1 inch apart, and placing same-size cookies on same sheet. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 1 sheet of cookies in oven, and immediately reduce temperature to 250. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are set and just beginning to turn light gold around edges, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

SPECULAAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Dust 2 baking sheets with flour.
• Combine brown sugar and butter together in a bowl; beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, and nutmeg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough comes together.
• Shape dough into cookies by hand or using cookie cutters. Arrange on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until firm but not hard, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

SPECULAAS

Steps:

• Using a food processor, finely grind the almonds with 2 tablespoons of the flour. Whisk together ground almonds with the rest of the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
• In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined.
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the flour mixture and mix until just moistened and combined.
• Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap well with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least three hours, but preferably overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies and place on sheets about 1 inch apart.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm and lightly golden around the edges. Cool sheets on wire racks for a couple minutes before transferring cookies directly onto wire racks with a spatula to finish cooling.

SPECULAAS - DUTCH COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine sugar and milk in a bowl.
• Stir until smooth.
• In another bowl, sift the dry ingredients and blend in the butter until the mixture is like cornmeal.
• Add the sugar and milk mixture and the almonds.
• Mix well.
• Wrap in foil, or wax paper and refrigerate overnight.
• Roll out the dough pretty thin.
• Use Christmas cookie cutters (or a windmill or other shaped cookie cutter if it isn't Christmas).
• Dust the cutter well with flour to be sure it doesn't stick.
• Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10- 12 minutes.
• Remove and cool.